SC dismisses petition on nursery admissions

The plea is against Delhi HC order restraining private schools from interviewing children or their parents for nursery admissions.

The Supreme Court on Friday refused to entertain an appeal against a Delhi High Court order restraining private schools from interviewing children or their parents for kindergarten and nursery admissions.

A bench of judges KG Balakrishnan and KG Jain told senior counsel Mukul Rohatgi appearing for SRF Foundation, which runs Shri Ram School in Vasant Vihar locality, that since the matter was pending before the high court, he could seek an intervention of that court.

The bench then dismissed the petition as withdrawn.

Assailing the high court's May 10 interim order, the petitioner said that it was in conflict with the observations made by the apex court in the TMA Pai Foundation case as well as the Delhi School Education Rules, which empowered the principal to regulate the admission process and procedure.

The petition argued that the aim of the interview with parents was only to gauge their interest in education, development of their child and whether the parents accepted the school's philosophy, values and role in the growth and grooming of their children.

The aim of the session was not to test the academic skills of the young ones, but only to observe their basic, age-appropriate skills, the petitioner said and sought a direction to quash the high court order and an interim stay of its operation.